York failed to complete a memorable turnaround and reach the play-offs for a second season running as they finished seven points off the fifth spot despite at one point looking odds on to make it. The season started in dreadful manner as everyone at the club was still feeling the effects of the painful play-off final loss to Oxford last May. Martin Foyle was forced to sell top striker Richard Brodie to Crawley at the last day of August and the club failed to win any of their first five games. They briefly returned to form but some inexcusable performances, like a 5:0 thrashing away at Mansfield, made Foyle's position untenable and he left in early October. Gary Mills, who worked wonders with Tamworth, was recruited as a replacement and immediately restored confidence within the squad. They set about on a superb run of form, especially at home where the Yorkshire club won all but three games in front of their fans for the remainder of the season. They had a great run in the FA Cup too and Premier League side Bolton had to work extremely hard to beat them in the third round in the FA Cup. After that distraction was gone, they really set about their task of making the play-offs and impressed with some great performances, winning 4:1 at home to AFC Wimbledon and beating direct rivals Fleetwood as well. The performances away were troubling though as Luton and Southport scored nine goals combined in a week in two consecutive away games without York finding the net. However, Mills galvanised the squad and a run of just one defeat in 13 games put them in a good position to make it into the top-five. However, the team dropped costly points away at Kettering, missing a late penalty, and against Tamworth at home before a 2:1 loss away at Darlington in the penultimate week ended their hopes. The regret for Mills was that his side peaked out too early and ran out of steam at the end but he will have confidence that a solid start next season will make a force to be reckoned with in this division.
